Shelf stacker quits; Tesco financial performance too much to bear

Courtney Thomas (17) today quit as shelf stacker for Tesco as the responsibility for financial and market performance for the Tesco group as a whole is too much to bear and that his efforts have failed to revive sales, despite spending £500m on price cuts and planning a major revamp of its stores.

‘We were told in our half hour induction training that we were all personally responsible for the performance of Tesco, and to be frank it’s too much responsibility for someone who has yet to sit their A level exams.’ said Courtney yesterday.

His departure, after only a year in the job, follows a disappointing Christmas sales period, a fall in market share and a profit warning in January.
Robert Clark, an independent retail analyst, said: ‘Tesco has been under-performing for two or three years domestically, and the on the basis of this morning’s announcement, it’s clear that they are pushing too much corporate responsibility on to shop front staff. This departure could finish them off. Or not.’